Windmill



(No Model.)

T. O. PERRY.

I WINDMILL. No. 492,104. Patented'Feb. 21,- 1893.

a: xoams PEIERS 00.. PHoTauTna. WASHING! N c UNrrso ST TES THOMAS C.PERRY, OF CHICAGO, ILLINOIS.

WIN'DMIVLL.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 492,104, dated February21, 1893.

Application filed May 7, 1892. Serial No. 432,131. (No model.)

To all whom it 'may concern:

Be it known that}, THOMAS O. PERRY, a citizen of the United States,residing at Chicago, county of Cook, and State of Illinois, haveinvented certain new and useful Improvements'in Windmills, which arefully set forth in the following specification, reference being had tothe accompanying drawings, forming a part thereof.

This invention relates to improvements in the mechanism for regulatingthe speed of windmills and throwing them into and out of the wind, bothautomatically and at will.

In the drawings,-Figure l is a side elevation of a windmill and itssupporting turntable, and mechanism by which it operates a pump rod, andhaving my improvements embodied in it; the general style and form beingsuch as is shown in my patent, No. 431,851, dated July 8, 1890, and theparts of the mechanism not concerned in the improvements herein to bedescribed may be understood by reference to that patent withoutparticular description here, and such parts will only be referred to inthis description in so far as is necessary to locate and explain theaction of the parts embodying the improvement. Fig. 2 is a sectionalplan of the mechanism concerned in the automatic regulation of the mill,section being made through the standard of the rocking beam and thepitman and pump rods at the plane indicated by the line 2-2 on Fig. 1.

A represents the upper end of the tower which supports the turn-tableand the mill thereon.

B is the piece of pipe which is bound rigidly to the upper end of thetower, and constitutes its upper terminal and the support on which theturn-table rests and revolves. Said turn-table comprises the verticaltubular trunk C, which is passed onto the upper end of the towerterminal B, and stopped by a suitable flange B on the latter. Itcomprises also the horizontal bearings C for the windmill shaft, andsuitable arms, lugs and projections to afford support and bearing forother parts of the mechanism, for example,

the arm C extending obliquely upward to af-- ford the pivot for therocking beam D, which is actuated bythe pitman and actuates the pumprod.

E is the wind wheel; e, its shaft,journaled, as stated, in the arm C ofthe turn-table, and having the pinion E at the rear end, which mesheswith the gear wheel E whose shaft is journaled in the bearing C on theturn-' table, and which actuates the pitman E and thereby, as stated,the rocking beam D, and the pump rod E I as 'is thus far described issubstantially the same as that shown in my said former pat- .ent, No.431,851.

wise brace bar G, extending obliquely downward from the vane.

pivotally connected to the turn-table at the' The upper bar G is lug Cat the upper end of the trunk of the latter, and the lower or brace barG is pivoted on the stud c which projects downward from the lug C at thelower end of the turn-table. The

two pivots are slightly out of line, the lower being a little fartherfrom the vertical axis of the turn-table than theupper, which gives thetail a little tendency to fall around toward a position parallel to theplane of the wheel, this position being shown in dotted lines in Fig. 2,and being the position toward which the tail passes as the wheel isthrown out of wind, either by the automatic action of the devices or atthe will of the operator, as hereinafter explained. The upper part G ofthe tail-bone is deflected at the part G to afford space for themechanism by which the wheel operates the pump rod, as seen in Fig.2,when the vane is thus swung aside. To the lug C which projects fromthe upper end of the trunk C of the turn-table, and to the outer side ofthe arm C the ends, respectively, of the yoke or frame F are made fast.Said yoke is made of flat iron bar. bent and forged into the shapeillustrated, having one end f bent downward and bolted to the lug C andhaving, extending thence horizontally and rearward parallel to the planeof the shaft-bearing C, and above the deflected portion G of the bar Gof the tail-bone, the portion F,

So much of the mechanism with an up-raise f, and being bent downward atthe part F past the edge of the bar G at a distance rearward from theaxis of the turntable, and then under the bar G edgewise obliquelyforward and toward the opposite side of the turn-table in the part F andfinally, directly forward in the part F being secured, as stated, at theend, to the arm (3 of the turn-table.

As a means of holding the tail or rudderG in position approximately atright angles to the plane of the wheel, and thereby holding the latterfacing the wind, I provide the coiled spring H, which is connected atone end to the tail-bone at h, and extends thence to a guide whosesupport is rigid with the turn-table, and out of line from the point hto the pivot of the tail to the turn-table. This guide is the pulley I,which is mounted in a suitable bracket 1, secured upon the upraise f ofthe yoke or frame F. For certain purposes of the construction, thespring H might be considered as fixed at the guide I, and it is so fixedin fact, except while the tension of the spring is being adjusted by themeans hereinafter described, but for certain purposes of adjustment, itis desirable to adopt the construction which will be further described,comprising the cable or chain K, connected to the free end of the springH, extending around the guide pulleyI horizontally, and thence around aguide pulley J, which is mounted in the stirrup J, secured to thehorizontal portion F of the yoke F, in such position that the chain,running over said pulley, passes down through the tubular terminal B ofthe tower, and hence within the tubular trunk C of the turn-table, whichis supported outside of said terminal B. The chain is connected at itslowerend below the terminal 13 to the circular plate U, which is guidedvertically and carried with the turntable in its rotation by the bar U,which extends up through the terminal B, and, emerging atthe top, issecured to the turn-table at the lug C, as seen in Fig. 2; a collar Ubeing also provided seated within the terminal B, at the lower end ofthe latter, to which the bar U is made fast at the projecting lug M Theplate U is seated in the collar S,which is secured by means of itslateral lug S to the upper end of the fiat bar S which is suitablyguided on the tower A, and has connected to it a rod S which extendsdown to a point where it may be operated and latched, as hereinafterexplained. The construction of the collar S, and the connections bywhich it is guided and reciprocated are substantially the same as thoseshown in my said patent, No. 431,851. On the lower end of the rod Sthere may be lodged weights S S to any desired degree, according to thetension which it is desired to give the spring H, or, in lieu thereof,the rod may be pulled down and latched at any one of the several points8 s, for the same purpose.

The operation of this structure, as far as described, is that when thedesired degree of tension has been imparted to the spring II by eitherof the methods described through the rod S and its connections to thechain K, the wheel will be held facing the wind so long as the force ofthe wind on the wheel (whose horizontal axis extends one side of thevertical axis of the turn-table, so that it tends to swing around withthe pressure of the wind in a familiar manner) is insufficient toovercome the tension of the spring and fold the tail around toward theposition shown by dotted line in Fig. 2, and, as the wind i11- creasesand folds the tail, the wheel area presented to the wind diminishes, andthereby the speed of the wheel is measurably regulated according tofamiliar principles. But the advantage of this construction over otherswhich have heretofore been employed, is that in the ordinary action ofthe wheel in such automatic regulation by variation of the angle atwhich it is presented to the wind, there is no'movement of the chainwhich connects the spring to the fastening or Weight at the lower end ofthe tower, but the spring operates precisely as if it were fast at theguide I. It will be easily understood that if the action caused thechain to pass back and forth over its guides with every change ofposition of the tail, the sensitiveness of the wheel to changes of wind,and the promptness with which it would be shifted and caused toautomatically regulate its speed would be greatly impaired. When it isdesired to set the wheel out of the wind, the rod S will be releasedfrom the pin or relieved from the weight which holds it, and the slightest breeze will then fold the vane to a position parallel to the wheel,or, more correctly speaking, swing the wheel to a position parallel withthe vane; and even in a perfect calm, the vane will tend to swing to aposition parallel with the wheel by reason of the fact that its lowerpivot is out of vertical line with the upper pivot, as above explained.The position of the guide I is such that the tension of the spring,exerted in adirect line between said guide and the point of attachmentof the spring to the vane, shall be aside from the plane of the axis ofthe tail-bone pivot, and thereby tend to swing the tail toward aposition at right angles with the wheel, both when the tail stands atthe opposite position,-that is, parallel with the w heel,and when itstands in position approximately at right angles to it. This determinesits location as being on the opposite side from the wheel shaft of avertical plane through the tail pivot, parallel with said shaft and onthe opposite side from the Wheel of a vertical plane through the pivotatright angles to the wheel shaft, And in order that the leverage favoringthe action of the spring shall be greatest at the point where it ismost; needed, viz: where it is to act to start the wheel from theposition of rest parallel with the vane, toward the position of actionat right angles thereto, the distance of said guide from the verticalplane at right angles to the wheel is greater than its distance from theother plane through the tail of the pivot, parallel to said shaft. 1 I

Another feature of this invention relates to the brake. The hub e of thewheel E has the conical brake surface 6', flaring at the end toward theturn-table, being open on that side; and on the bearing 0, which isoverhung by the huh, I mount the brake L, which has the conical surfaceL, facing the brake surface e, and adapted to seat thereonwhen the brakeis moved axially toward the wheel.

To the heel of the upper bar G of the tailbone, there is connected therod M, which passes through and is guided in the lug O on the upper endof the turn-table, said rod bein g connected atthe forward end to thebrake disk L, at the hub of the latter close to its bearing 011 theshaft bearing 0.

N is a spring coiled around the rod M, and reacting between the lug C attheone end and the brake disk L at the other end, tends to force thelatter toward the wheel E, and seat it on the brake seat e. When thevane is in the position shown in full line in the drawings, or in anyposition in which the wheel E is operative under the action of the wind,the

brake disk L is held away from the brake seat e by the rod M,notwithstanding the tension of the spring N, tending to seat the brake,but as the wheel swings around so that the vane occupies relatively toit the position shown in dotted lines in Fig. 2, the brake approachesthe seat, and will reach it just before the bar Gr collides with theflange 0 which is provided on the arm C of the turntable, for thepurpose of arresting it at a position substantially parallel with thewheel. The friction of the brake will thereby be applied to the wheeltending to arrest its motion, by the same action which carries it out ofthe wind; and in'order that, notwithstandin g the brake reaches its seatbefore the arm G2 reaches its stop, the said arm shall be permitted toreach the stop, the rod is loosely connected to the brake, so that itmay have a little longitudinal movement after the seating of the brake,which will be effected by the reaction of the spring N, before it willitself be stopped by the brake, and in that little movement, the bar G2comes to its stop. This spring N, it will be observed, is exerting itstension upon the tail through the medium of the rod M, at all timesuntil the brake is seated, and most strongly when the tail is projectingfrom the wheel, as in the position shown in the drawings. This spring,therefore, serves to start the tail away from that position toward theposition shown indotted lines, whenever the shut-off rod S is released,so that the spring H is relaxed, and it therefore operates to set thewheel in inoperative position when there is no wind to assist, bycausing the vane to swing when released from the tension of the tailspring H. It supple-- vertically pivoted to the turn-table and providedwith stops to limit its horizontal swing between a position at rightangles and a'position parallel to the wheel shaft; and a tail springstrained directly between a point on the tail remote from its verticalpivot, and a point on the turn-table which is outside of the anglebetween the two extreme positions of the tail, and on the opposite sidefrom the wheel of a vertical plane through the tail pivot at rightangles to the wheel shaft: sub stantially as set forth.

2. In a windmill, in combination with a vertically pivoted turn-tableand a horizontally journaled wheel thereon, the tail vane verticallypivoted to the turn-table and provided with stops to limit itshorizontal swing between a position at right angles and a positionparallel to the wheel shaft; a tail spring connected to the tail at apoint remote from its pivot, and the guide on the turn-table outside ofthe angle between the two extreme positions of the tail and on theopposite side from the wheel of a vertical plane through the tail pivotat right angles to the wheel shaft;'and connections from the springpassing over such guide and adapted to be secured and released at willwhereby the spring may at will be strained and secured under tension orleft slack between its connection on the tail and such 'guide:substantially as set forth.

3. In a'windmill, in combination with a vertically pivoted turn-tableand the horizontally journ-aled wheel thereon, the tail vane verticallypivoted to the turn-table and provided with stops to limit itshorizontal swing between a position at right angles and a positionparallel to the wheel shaft; an extensible tail spring attached to thetail at a point remote from its pivot, and a flexible connection fromthe opposite end of the spring passin g over a guide on the turn-tablelocated out side the angle between the extreme positions of the tail andon the opposite side from the wheel of a vertical plane through the tailpivot at right angles to the wheel, and thence over suitable guidesvertically; and suitable means for fixing the lower end of the verti--ICO 4. In a windmill, in combination with the vertically pivotedturn-table and the horizontally journaled wheel thereon, the tail vanewheel shaft; a friction brake supported on the turn-table; a springreacting between the turn-table and brake, tending to force the latteragainst the wheel; a link extending from the brake to the tail andconnected to the latter at a point situated relatively to the tailpivot, so that the movement of the tail toward a position parallel withthe wheel shaft withdraws the brake from the wheel and puts the springunder tension: substantially as set forth.

5. 1n a windmill, in combination with a verticall y pivoted turn-tableand the horizontally journaled wheel thereon; the tail verticallypivoted to the turn-table and provided with a stop to limititshorizontal swingin one direction at a position approximately parallel tothe wheel; a friction brake supported on the turn-table, and a springreacting between the turn-table and such brake, tending to force thelatter against the wheel; a link connecting the brake to the tail at apoint on the latter such that the movement of the tail toward a positionparallel with the wheel, permits the brake to move toward the wheel, theconnections of the link being sufficiently loose to permit the tail toreach its said stop after the brake is seated 011 the wheel:substantially as set forth.

6. In a windmill, in combination with the vertically pivoted turn-tableand the horizontally journaled wheel thereon; the tail vane verticallypivoted to the turn-table and adapt ed to swing toward a positionapproximately parallel with the wheel; a spring connected to the tailand to the turn-table and tending, when under tension, to hold the tailtoward a position parallel with the wheel shaft; connections from saidspring whereby it may be put under tension and released at will; and asupplemental spring N, reacting between the turn-table and suitableconnection from the tail tending to swing the latter toward a positionparallel with the wheel; whereby, when the first spring is released, thesecond tends to set the wheel and tail parallel: substantially as setforth.

Signed at Chicago, Illinois, April 28, 1892.

THOMAS O. PERRY.

In presence of- CHAs. S. BURTON, JEAN ELLIOTT.

